Welcome to Thailand!

My time in Thailand did not exactly start off the best way. I'd booked a cheap mini-bus from my guesthouse in Penang to get me to Hat Yai, Thailand. Even if Hat Yai is NOT renowned as being a great place to stay, I'd decided on 1 or 2 nights there as a pit stop before taking the train to Bangkok.

I spent the 4+ hour drive litterally sitting on the edge of my seat, watching our driver trying to stay awake. He would blink at least 100 times/minute, and would even close his eyes for a few milliseconds too many. And he eventually did fall asleep, while I wasn't paying attention, and drifted a little onto the side of the highway. Luckily there was no harm done, and the adrenaline kept him (and me) awake for the rest of the journey.

Once in Hat Yai, I was kind of shocked to see that all the signs were in some unreadable script that I now know as being Thai. A little naive of me, but I thought english would be much more prevalent than it was, and it was unsettling to realise I couldn't even read street signs! At least in Malaysia, they use the same alphabet as we do, so even if I didn't know the meaning of the words, I could recognise them easily enough. Not so in Thailand!

As for Hat Yai itself, I don't have many positive things to say about it, so I'll be brief. I had done my research and knew enough about Thailand to stay away from the south-eastern provinces, where fighting and terrorist attacks still go on each day. My research wasn't that thourough though, since I didn't know that Hat Yai was also considered somewhat dangerous, with recent bombings targetting shopping malls and the train station. I found this out once already in Hat Yai, and I freely admit that it spooked me. Let's just say I didn't spend much time there, and booked my train ticket out of there for the next day.

I took the overnight train from Hat Yai to Bangkok, and had a lovely time. It was my first time on a sleeper train, but I was relatively comfortable on the top bunk, if a little claustrophobic, but I managed to sleep well. I met a Malay couple going to visit family, and they gave me plenty of tips and things to see while in Thailand. I think they were worried about me travelling on my own, so they tried to "take care" of me while on their watch. They were very nice and helpful.

I arrived in Bangkok at around noon on Friday. Johanne was scheduled to arrive very late Sunday night, so I had a good 2 days to kill without doing any of the obvious touristy stuff, since I would be doing it with Johanne in a few days. I just walked around the backpacker ghetto known as Khao san road, and people-watched for a while. A very interesting bunch of tourists, lots of hippy types too. And I was suprised by the number of Canadians in Bangkok. It's obviously quite a popular destination.

And as further proof of how small the world really is: as I was sitting there having dinner on Friday night in a little restaurant next to my guesthouse, I noticed a girl I thought I recognized heading for the reception desk. I quickly paid my bill and went to check, and yes, it really was someone I knew. I had met this Swiss girl in my dorm room at my very first hostel in New Zealand, on the 2nd day of my trip! And here she was again in the same guesthouse in Bangkok! Very small world indeed!

I spent the weekend wandering around, getting the lay of the land. Regula, the Swiss girl, having been in Bangkok before, showed me around the River boat and SkyTrain transport systems, so I would (hopefully) be a pro by the time Johanne arrived. I enjoyed myself a bit, but I have to admit I was mostly just really looking forward to seeing Johanne on Sunday night. It was a loooong weekend for me....

So, my first post about Thailand is a bit of a downer, but I promise it gets better after this! I was just off to a slow start, and really excited about seeing Johanne and starting my own little "mini-vacation" from travelling solo. More on that in the next post (and on Johanne's blog - johannel.blogspot.com)

And for those interested (yes, I mean you Dad!), I added a link to my travel map that I keep up to date in TripAdvisor. The link is at the bottom-right of the page, in the Links section. I usually add the cities that I've been to a few times a month, but I will also try to add the places I am planning on going to, so you can get an idea of my itinerary.

And lastly, don't be shy about posting a comment or just saying hi! I'm now back to travelling on my own, and would love some company, even if just "virtual"!!!